Early on June 25, 1950, 75,000 Korean People’s Army troops attacked, catching the South Korean Army by surprise and starting the Korean War. Three days later, Seoul fell to the Communist North. But the new hit North Korean movie, “72 Hours,” tells a different story of how the three-year-long conflict started. Produced by the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the country’s Central Committee, the film has the South attacking first, and the North’s advance to Seoul is part of a counter offensive, a resident of the northeastern province of North…
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Chinese tourist tower overlooking North Korea could be demolished
A gigantic steel tower in China – part of a tourist attraction with views into the North Korean city of Hyesan – that leans almost over the Yalu River between the two nations could be demolished after several tense interactions between Chinese tourists and North Koreans below, residents in both countries told Radio Free Asia. The 50-meter-tall, 70-meter-long (164-foot-tall, 230-foot-long) tower is part of the Changbai Millennium Cliff City built in 2021 in the town of Malugou in the Changbai Korean Autonomous County in China’s northeastern province of Jilin. The…
North Korean no-no: Carrying bags on your shoulder
In North Korea, carrying a bag with a strap on your shoulder can get you in trouble – because that’s the way they do it in the capitalist South. Instead, true socialists carry bags on their back or in one hand, people are told, sources in the reclusive country said. It’s the latest example of authorities controlling even the personal details of North Koreans’ lives. Women are told they can’t wear shorts, people are punished for using loan words from English, which they may have learned from South Korean TV…
Free textbooks for North Korean students who can pay for them in scrap paper
North Korea is offering free textbooks to school children for the first time since the 1990s, but only on the condition that they provide the raw materials for the books in the form of scrap paper that is good enough to recycle, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia. The students were instructed to bring 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of “high-quality” scrap paper to school on April 1, the first day of the new school year. Those who brought less than 2 kilograms did not receive all the textbooks,…
Schools in North Korean province remain closed amid respiratory outbreak
A resurgence of a respiratory illness believed to be caused by coronavirus has caused some elementary schools and childcare facilities in North Korea to remain closed past April 1, which should have been the starting date of the new school year, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia. RFA reported that in early March, at least five children in the northern province of Ryanggang had died of a respiratory disease that had symptoms similar to COVID-19. The province shuttered all daycares and schools and returned to an emergency quarantine…
Russia’s veto on North Korea sanctions watchdog sparks international criticism
Russia faced widespread criticism following its use of veto power to effectively terminate official United Nations monitoring of sanctions on North Korea amid investigations into alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang. The Russian veto at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday blocked the renewal of the panel of experts tasked with probing violations of sanctions related to North Korea’s prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which was imposed nearly 20 years ago. For a resolution of the renewal to pass, it must receive the support of at least nine…
Returning from China, North Korean workers are paid in dubious IOUs
North Korean workers returning from China with hopes of a big payday are incensed because the government is not paying them in cash. Instead, it’s giving them bank-issued money vouchers, which the workers are worried might end up being worthless, residents told Radio Free Asia. The vouchers, essentially IOUs, were issued in 2021 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Authorities explained that they could be used just like cash, and that they would be phased out once the pandemic ended. Until then, the vouchers – printed on lower quality…
Desperate farmers in North Korea steal insulating plastic film from each other
It’s planting season in North Korea, and farmers are stealing plastic film from each other so that they can protect their rice seedlings from frost as they worry about meeting their quotas, residents told Radio Free Asia. The plastic film and other farm supplies such as fertilizer are in short supply as imports from China have not picked up after the shutdown in trade during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In rural areas of our country, where farming material shortages are chronic, the number of thieves of plastic film from farms increases…
Ryanggang province restores coronavirus emergency command as cases increase
A return to a Coronavirus Emergency Quarantine posture is underway in North Korea’s Ryanggang province as cases of a respiratory disease with symptoms similar to COVID-19 increase, and at least one more child has died, residents told Radio Free Asia. RFA previously reported that at least five children in the central northern province died after developing symptoms, causing the local government to shut down schools and daycares for 10 days. Sources said that the 10 days have passed and only high schools have reopened. Closing the schools did not stop…
Japan proposes Kishida, Kim summit: North Korean leader’s sister
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said on Monday that Pyongyang has received a summit proposal from Japan. Her comments came a month after she said the hermit state was open to enhancing its ties with Tokyo. However, Kim said that improving bilateral relations between the two countries will depend on whether Japan can make practical political decisions. “Recently, Prime Minister [Fumio] Kishida conveyed to us through another channel his desire to meet directly with the chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic…